Most Americans say the Supreme Court shouldn’t ban colleges and universities from considering applicants’ race in the admission process, according to a new poll released just weeks before the high court seems poised to do just that.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule in June on the explicit consideration of race in college admissions, and the majority-conservative court has indicated it is likely to rule against the practice. But in a May poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, Americans largely seem to favor affirmative action in college admissions.
Sixty-three percent of adults polled, across racial and political lines, said the Supreme Court shouldn’t block colleges from taking applicants’ race and ethnicity into account in the admission process. But many said that race should play a smaller role and that factors like high school grades and standardized test scores should weigh more.
“On one hand, of course the Supreme Court should take into account this changing culture,” said Marie Bigham, the founder and executive director of Admissions Community Cultivating Equity & Peace Today, a race-conscious admissions advocacy group. “On the other hand, I think of other cases that have landed before the court. We know what Brown v. Board of Education would have been decided if public opinion mattered.”
Bigham added that public opinion rarely has a big impact on policy decisions.
In the May poll, Democrats, nonwhite adults and those with college degrees were more likely than white adults, Republicans and those without college degrees to say race and ethnicity should be important. The results of the poll continue a nationwide shift over the last 10 years in favor of affirmative action. In 2013, just 45% of Americans polled were in favor of the practice, a historic low in the debate, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Affirmative action has been a consistent subject of debate as the Supreme Court…
Read the full article here
